From the monthly archives:

August 2009

Research Shows Low Vitamin D Levels Raise Risk of Heart Disease in Diabetics

August 23, 2009 Cardiovascular Research

Low levels of vitamin D are known to nearly double the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes, and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis now think they know why. They have found that diabetics deficient in vitamin D can’t process cholesterol normally, so it builds up in their blood vessels, …

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High Serum Insulin Levels And Risk Of Prostate Cancer

August 23, 2009 Cancer

Elevated insulin levels in the normal range appear to be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, according to a new study published online August 21 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Insulin-like growth factors appear to be involved in the development of prostate cancer, but the relationship between circulating insulin levels …

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Little Known Type Of Cholesterol – Oxycholesterol – May Pose The Greatest Heart Disease Risk

August 23, 2009 Cardiovascular Research

Health-conscious people know that high levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the so-called “bad” cholesterol) can increase the risk of heart attacks. Now scientists are reporting that another form of cholesterol called oxycholesterol — virtually unknown to the public — may be the most serious cardiovascular health threat of all. Scientists from China presented one …

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Fatigue Related To Radiotherapy May Be Caused By Inflammation

Thumbnail image for Fatigue Related To Radiotherapy May Be Caused By Inflammation August 21, 2009 Asthma Research

Patients who experience fatigue during radiotherapy for breast or prostate cancer may be reacting to activation of the pro-inflammatory cytokine network, a known inflammatory pathway, according to a report in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Julie Bower, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Psychiatry at …

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Scientists Help Explain Effects Of Ancient Chinese Herbal Formulas On Heart Health

August 20, 2009 Cardiovascular Research

New research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston suggests that ancient Chinese herbal formulas used primarily for cardiovascular indications including heart disease may produce large amounts of artery-widening nitric oxide. Findings of the preclinical study by scientists in the university’s Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human …

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Heartburn Drugs May Raise The Risk Of Hip Fractures

August 19, 2009 Cardiovascular Research

Even short-term use of popular acid-reducing heartburn drugs may raise the risk of hip fractures, U.S. researchers said on Monday. The increased risks appeared two years after patients started taking proton pump inhibitors such as Takeda Pharmaceutical Co’s Prevacid and histamine-2 receptor antagonists, or H2RAs, such as GlaxoSmithKline’s Zantac, researchers at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco …

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Tests Begin On Drugs That May Slow Aging

August 18, 2009 Cardiovascular Research

It may be the ultimate free lunch — how to reap all the advantages of a calorically restricted diet, including freedom from disease and an extended healthy life span, without eating one fewer calorie. Just take a drug that tricks the body into thinking it’s on such a diet. It sounds too good to be true, …

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Scientists Uncork Potential Secret Of Red Wine’s Health Benefits

Thumbnail image for Scientists Uncork Potential Secret Of Red Wine’s Health Benefits August 18, 2009 Inflammation

Scientists from Scotland and Singapore have unraveled a mystery that has perplexed scientists since red wine was first discovered to have health benefits: how does resveratrol control inflammation? New research published in the August 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal, not only explains resveratrol’s one-two punch on inflammation, but also show how it—or a …

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Osteoporosis Drugs Linked to Jaw Infection, Study Shows

August 18, 2009 News & Research

A group of University of Southern California School of Dentistry researchers says it has identified the slimy culprits killing the jawbones of some people taking drugs that treat osteoporosis. Microbial biofilms, a mix of bacteria and sticky extracellular material, are causing jaw tissue infections in patients taking bisphosphonate drugs, said Parish Sedghizadeh, lead researcher and assistant …

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Common Oral Osteoporosis Drugs Linked To Serious Jaw Necrosis

August 18, 2009 News & Research

Researchers at the University Of Southern California, School Of Dentistry release results of clinical data that links oral bisphosphonates to increased jaw necrosis. The study is among the first to acknowledge that even short-term use of common oral osteoporosis drugs may leave the jaw vulnerable to devastating necrosis, according to a new report. Osteoporosis currently affects …

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Chronic Insomnia With Short Sleep Duration Is Significant Risk Factor For Hypertension

August 17, 2009 Cardiovascular Research

A study in the April 1 issue of the journal SLEEP is the first to demonstrate that chronic insomnia with objectively measured short sleep time is an independent and clinically significant risk factor for hypertension. Results indicate that participants with insomnia and an objectively measured, severely short sleep duration of less than five hours had a …

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Mold Toxins More Prevalent And Hazardous Than Thought

August 14, 2009 Asthma Research

Mold toxins in buildings damaged by moisture are considerably more prevalent than was previously thought, according to new international research. Erica Bloom from the Division of Medical Microbiology at Lund University in Sweden has contributed to research in this field by analyzing dust and materials samples from buildings damaged by mould. Virtually all of the …

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